The best places to eat and drink in Manchester’s Northern Quarter

Posted on August 7, 2017

The look on Mim’s face said it all; “That is one of the best things I’ve ever tasted”, she said gleefully, pushing the gloriously large yet somewhat daunting mac and cheese toasty across the table for Mark to taste. Were we in Manchester, or had we magically teleported back to our hometown of Melbourne for some top quality grub?

Being from Melbourne, we’re kinda food snobs. When you’ve got access to so many incredible restaurants, it’s hard not to be. But our home right now, London, doesn’t quite cut it. It’s not that the food in London is bad; it’s just not that good.

So you can imagine our surprise when we visited Manchester recently and discovered it’s food scene is on par with Melbourne’s, and the city’s famed northern quarter the epicentre for incredibly simple, tasty, and potentially artery blocking, food. Full of American style diners, Indian street food, Japanese infused eateries, and your standard brunch hotspots, the food in Manchester’s Northern Quarter might just be England’s best.

Here is our lowdown on the best places to eat (and drink) in Manchester’s Northern Quarter.

WHERE TO EAT IN MANCHESTER’S NORTHERN QUARTER DISTRICT

INDIAN STREET FOOD AT BUNDOBUST, MANCHESTER

Indian street food and craft beers. That’s Bundobust’s jam, and it’s kinda our jam too. Walking into the nondescript dungeon off Piccadilly, our first impression of Bundobust is positive – large, communal tables, bollywood posters, and a large beer menu of mostly foreign craft beers. Above the kitchen is the phrase ‘too much spicy’, which unsettles us a little. To our delight, the food menu contains all our faves – onion bhaji (onion, cauliflower, spinich bhaji), masala dhosa (rice crepe filled with potato and onion dry fry, served with lentils), chole batura (chickpeas cooking in tomoto and onion sauce), and paneer and mushroom tikka. Our interest is piqued by the vada pav, Mumbai’s favourite burger. We order it all, and sample each tasty dish, falling into an everlong foodgasm.

The food here is exceptional, and we’re happy to state, some of the best Indian we’ve ever had. It’s also not that spicy. You simply MUST order the vada pav, which oozes flavour and subtle spice. The chole batura is another must eat.

It’d be remiss for us to exclude the beer, and we suggest you start with an IPA – whatever they have (Bundobust change their beer menu regularly).

Costs | Single dishes are around £6, a selection for two is £25, a selection of everything is £66

AMAZING CHEESE TOASTIES AT NORTHERN SOUL GRILLED CHEESE

We’re massive fans of cheese, and even bigger fans of cheese toasties, and nowhere have we enjoyed the delicious combination of bread and cheese more so than Northern Soul Grilled Cheese.

Located on church st market, the selection of toasties certainly isn’t limited. All toasties are based on sourdough and their secret three cheese blend, with variations including Pestorella (includes fresh tomato, basil pesto), Mac Attack (includes, you guessed it, Mac and Cheese), and for meat lovers, the Cuban Pete (pork, roast ham, swiss cheese, mustard and pickle). We were taken aback by their size, and presentation; each toastie oozed cheese, and was accompanied by a gurken, a clear sign of a good toastie.

Our faves were the Pestorella, which is a pure taste sensation, and the Mac Attack, which Mim proclaimed to be the best thing she’d ever eaten.

Northern Soul Grilled Cheese also sell a huge array of other comfort food, including Mac and Cheese, Nachos, and Milkshakes.

FREAK SHAKES AND CEREAL AT BLACK MILK, OLDHAM STREET

We’d heard about freak shakes – the high-calorie, mega-milkshake that combines ice cream, chocolate bars and even an entire slice of cake, but we’d never actually HAD one. That all changed in Manchester, and life got a little bit better (or worse, depending on which way you look at it!) after we visited Black Milk in Odlham Street.

Originally a cereal cafe, Black Milk has recently expanded to their Oldham St cafe, which now serves delightfully obnoxious freakhakes. Clearly, we couldn’t try them all, so settled for the Triple Oreo Cheesecake. As the name suggests, it’s full of Oreo glory and completely gluttonous, but totally worth it – especially when you’re burning off calories exploring the city of Manchester.

If you’re not keen on the mega shake, try one of the cereal bowls – basically the cereal bowls you wish your mum would serve you when you were young. Our fave was the OH-LAA-LAA, featuring all types of chocolate cereal topped with toblerone, bueno and molten chocolate. It’s topped off with whole milk and cookie dough ice cream. Nom is an understatement.

COMFORT FOOD AT WEST CNR, MANCHESTER

Manchester, with its red brick buildings and external fire escapes, often doubles as New York, so it’s no surprise that American diners are definitely a thing in the city. For good reason too – they serve delicious comfort food, perfect for lazy weekend days, or hung over mornings. Neither of those scenario’s existed for us, but we still decided a visit to West CNR.

A pleasant environment with booths, bar stools and benches, we felt like we’d transported to New York. The menu is full of the usual; burgers, fries, salads and beer, of which we sampled just about everything (minus anything with meat). The burrata and heritage tomato salad blew our socks off, and we couldn’t go past the battered onion rings.

West CNR also does brunch, with the eggs hollandaise their speciality.

COCKTAILS AND JAPANESE AT COTTONOPOLIS

A former tailor’s studio, now a swanky bar come restaurant serving delicious asian fusion, Cottonopolis is a Friday night dream. They mix up delightful cocktails created by award winning mixologist Jamie Jones, and import Czech beer weekly (Krusovice), meaning their drinks menu is well stocked for a fun night out. We visited on Sunday afternoon, so while the atmosphere was distinctly quiet, the food and beer was great.

We had the tofu bao and gyoza, two long term favourites of ours, and were suitably impressed. The Krusovice was the perfect afternoon tipple.

VEGETARIAN AND COFFEE DREAMS AT PIG AND SPARROW

Fig and Sparrow is one of those cafes that looks as if it’s stepped out of an Instagram feed. Ironically, we met up with one of our favourite instagrammers and writers, Annapurna Mellor, here.

Sit in the window and watch Manchester go by, while enjoying delicious coffee (a common thread in Manchester), and predominantly vegetarian food, including a seriously good avocado on toast, with chili and walnuts.

They also serve so great vegan treats – our fave was salted caramel slice.

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We're Mark & Miranda, aka The Common Wanderer, an Aussie couple with a love of travel, adventure, writing and photography. We inspire and empower our readers to seek out the less explored corners of the earth through in-depth stories, travel tips, photography and wanderlust. Follow our journey through Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest.